THE WURZELS GERMAN SINGLE!

In 1978, EMI decided that it was time for the Wurzels to release a single in Germany as a ‘thank you’ for the support of their fans in that country.
The decision was taken to actually sing the tracks in German – a first for the band – and so a fellow was brought at great expense from Germany to England to teach the boys German diction!

The backing band were all English session musicians playing in good old umpah-pah style with gusto! The Wurzels in the meantime – Pete, Tommy and Tony – dressed up in lederhosen for the recording topped off with the traditional Wurzel scarfs!
Pete recalls that Tommy teased him that his legs looked like they had been pinned to his shirt tails – “what a sexy look that was!”

Two tracks were laid down in that EMI session. The first was ‘Das Humbta Tatara’, the second being ‘O Du Schoner Westerwald’. Both were produced by record producer, the late Bob Barrett who had also produced the Adge Cutler albums.
‘Das Humbta Tatara’ is a rousing old German song. The Wurzels version was played pretty straight with a catchy chorus – and many original German versions can be found on YouTube.
It is all about the joyous sound of brass instruments and how addictive it is to those who hear it – bit like the Somerset Crumpet horn perhaps?

‘O Du Schoner Westerwald’ is a traditional German marching song chanting the delights of the beautiful Westerwald forests in Germany. A good strong song, the Wurzels’ version was greatly enhanced by Pete Budd’s Somersetian interjections! Great fun!

The single was released later in 1978, only in Germany, on the AVES record label (AVES Records & Tapes INT 111.505). Side 1, running at 3m 9s, was chosen as ‘O Du Schoner Westerwald’ and side 2, running at 2m 16s, was the Wurzels’ take on ‘Das Humbta Tatara’.

This is perhaps one of the rarest of all Wurzel releases – if you have one in your collection then hold on tightly to it...because it could be worth a fortune!